Photo: Kyle Grantham
The Philadelphia Union’s rough start to the season continued with another ugly home loss, this time to the San Jose Earthquakes. Let’s get right to the ratings.
Player Ratings:
GK Andre Blake – 6
Not much to do on the goal, not much to do otherwise.
LB Giovanny Sequera – 5.5
Caught out of position a few times, including by Timo Werner’s brilliant pass for the only goal of the match, but it’s hard to hold it against the surprise Union II callup. Had perhaps the Union’s best chance of the night with a nice cutback and shot in the 57th minute.
CB Nathan Harriel – 5.5
Should have scored on a diving header right after half-time. Otherwise an uneventful night.
CB Japhet Sery – 5
Was solid enough defensively, but the Union need better possession play out of the back.
RB Frankie Westfield – 6
Over-aggressive at times in the back, but one of the few potential sources of joy for this Union team going forward, including with two key passes and six successful crosses.
DM Danley Jean Jacques – 5.5
There were a few signs of the old maurading midfielder from last year, but the central midfield has been much too passive through the start of the season.
DM Jovan Lukic – 5
Not terribly involved other than getting a yellow early in the first half.
AM Milan Iloski – 5.5
It’s still not clear where the Union’s creativity and attack is going to come from this season, but Iloski consistently looks the most likely. Unfortunately, he has not yet found his form from last season.
AM Indiana Vassilev – 5.5
Vassilev had two good opportunities around the top of the box, one in each half, but placed his shot right at the keeper both times.
FWD Agustín Anello – 3.5
Apparently had one shot and completed one pass before being subbed at halftime.
FWD Bruno Damiani – 3.5
Closest he came to scoring was when he nearly blocked a pass from the San Jose goalkeeper in the 30th minute.
Substitutes:
(45’) Ezekiel Alladoh – 4.5
Decent penalty shout in the 65’, but might have been better served just taking the shot.
(66’) Jesus Bueno – 5.5
Always covers a lot of ground and keeps things ticking, but rarely makes things happen in the attack.
(74’) Stan Korzeniowski – 5
Another combative performance from the big forward, who is already becoming a bit of a fan favorite.
(74’) Alejandro Bedoya – N/A
(82’) Ben Bender – N/A
Geiger Counter
Armando Villarreal – 5.5
Ignored a decent penalty shout on Alladoh, but otherwise I can’t say I really noticed him.
Player of the Match: Timo Werner
The German brought a touch of class to an ugly game, and ultimately that was the difference.
What’s Next
The Union will have to figure things out fast before they host Club América in the Concacaf Champions Cup on Tuesday, March 10 at 7:00 PM.